Welcome to therapy first
Psychotherapy as first-line treatment for gender dysphoria
We’re here to help.

The purest form of listening is to listen without memory or desire.
Wilfred Bion

Therapy First is a U.S. based non-profit organization and international professional association of mental health providers dedicated to offering developmentally informed psychotherapy as the first-line treatment for youth gender dysphoria.
Our mission is to advance the field of mental health in this area and to raise the standard of care for children, adolescents, and young adults experiencing gender dysphoria by supporting and training clinicians, conducting research, and offering public education on mental health and psychotherapy.

Start here
Therapy First exists because we see a great need arising from the current oversimplification and politicalization of gender dysphoria in the field of mental health.
Therapists
Join a professional association of mental health providers who view psychosocial support and a whole person approach as the appropriate front-line treatment for gender-related concerns.
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Clients & Families
If you or someone you care about is suffering from gender-related distress, we offer compassionate and evidence-based resources and can help connect you to a mental health provider.
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Transition-Related Grief
We offer resources and information for those who experience grief related to medical transition, including therapists experienced in working with people who choose to detransition.
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Join Therapy First
Therapy First’s professional association is open to licensed mental health providers. Once you become a member, you’ll join a community of over 300 professionals worldwide who actively support one another in exchanging ideas and sharing resources.
You’ll also gain access to weekly peer supervision groups, get discounts to Therapy First webinars and trainings, and have the opportunity to list your practice on a public directory of psychotherapists.


Featured webinars
Therapy First provides a range of trainings for mental health clinicians working with young people who are questioning their identity.
Saturday Oct 25th at 6pm EDT
Psychiatry has a problematic history in terms of its approach to homosexuality. This history is often invoked as a warning that we must not make the same mistakes in the way we respond to people experiencing gender dysphoria and those who identify as trans. A brief review of the 20th-century psychoanalytic approach to homosexuality will show how psychoanalysis was used as a form of conversion therapy for individuals with same-sex attraction. This historical context will highlight the important differences between contemporary psychotherapy for those experiencing gender dysphoria and practices historically associated with gay conversion therapy. The presentation will consider how therapists might best work with individuals who are struggling with ambivalently held parts of the self, whether related to same-sex desire or gender. Depth psychotherapies aim to support the acceptance and integration of parts of the self that are unwanted or difficult to tolerate. Concerns have been raised that the gender affirming model may inadvertently preclude this process of integration by reinforcing internal divisions. This possibility warrants serious professional consideration. Finally, the presentation will reflect on how professional certainty and arrogance, coupled with the rejection of science, have historically led to harm for many homosexual and bisexual people. If similar dynamics are at play today, then without careful reflection, the mental health field is at risk of repeating the very harms it is eager to avoid.
Learning objectives:
- Identify and summarize historical factors in psychiatry’s treatment of homosexuality, including they ways in which psychoanalysis was used as a form of conversion therapy.
- Differentiate between historical conversion therapy practices and contemporary psychotherapeutic approaches for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria.
- Explain the basic goals of psychotherapeutic work with people with ambivalently held parts of the self and how the gender affirming model can work against good psychological outcomes.
- Compare the response of mainstream psychiatry to homosexuality with its current refusal to acknowledge the weak evidence base for gender affirming medical treatments
Presenter Bio:
Dr. Roberto D'Angelo is a training and supervising analyst at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles. He has written and contributed to publications raising ethical questions about gender-affirming therapies. Dr. D’Angelo has an interest in non-medicalized approaches to gender issues and has written about the psychotherapeutic treatment of gender dysphoria. He is in private practice in Sydney and Byron Bay, Australia, where he sees adolescents and adults with gender issues.
Therapy First has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7505. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Therapy First is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. This webinar provide 1.5 hours of CE credits.
Therapy First is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Therapy First maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Therapy First webinars are open to the public. Parents, clinicians, teachers, and all those interested are welcome to attend. Psychologists and professional counselors are eligible to earn 1.5 CE credits for participating in the live webinar.
Find a Therapist
We help prospective clients connect with therapists who agree with the tenets of Therapy First’s membership statement.
You can find out more about individual practices by clicking in and viewing their profile.
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